RENASCENCE OF THE MODERN MEETING-HOUSE 



BY JOY WHEELER DOW 



THERE is, at least, one bit of classic architecture 

 that fits into the American landscape, perfectly. 

 It is the wooden, Colonial Meeting-house. Origi- 

 nally good in its conception, good in the honest appli- 

 cation of American forestry to its lines and proportions, 

 without the mistaken idea of counterfeiting stone-work, 

 and invested now by three centuries of American his- 

 tory with irresistible personality and magnetism who 

 is not gladdened to see its spire and gilt cockerel shim- 

 mering afar in the glorious sunshine of America, as it 



strange to say, there is no more danger of fire from the 

 wiring and all our modern inventions which tamper 

 with fire, and make insurance policies necessary even 

 for those who dwell in monolithic concrete dwellings. 

 The old Colonial dwellings rarely burned down. Then, 

 there is the wide range of selection different kinds of 

 wood for the different parts of the building. Spruce 

 and yellow pine are not the only framing material, 

 although, white pine, I believe, is best for door and 

 window casings, outside doors, cornices and mouldings. 



A COLONIAL HOUSE IN SWITZERLAND 

 Gothic grammer correctly expressed in wood. 



dominates the cluster of elms or maples of the village 

 common in the middle distance of a picture of match- 

 less rural scenery? 



Besides these sentimental considerations, what kind of 

 a building is more suitable for an all-the-year-round 

 proposition in our land, than one constructed out of some 

 kind of sound and time-resisting species of wood selected 

 from our splendid native forests? A non-conductor of 

 temperatures, a wooden building further insulated by 

 back-plastering and double paper lining, is snug and 

 warm in winter, cool in summer, while it harbors none of 

 the insidious dampness which is apt to linger, at all 

 times, in a house constructed of massive masonry; and 



This should be leaded with a white lead base. Weather- 

 boards, where there is an alternate choice of using cedar, 

 cypress or some other wood, may be left entirely with- 

 out paint, as was done in the Jacobean-Colonial dwelling 

 called "Keepsake" illustrated in the March number of 

 "American Forestry." 



The first colonists had no paint, the few houses 

 of that period remaining having withstood the vicissi- 

 tudes of three hundred years without its help and for 

 this reason it has always seemed to me, as a matter of 

 personal choice, that it would be a good rule today 

 never to stain or paint wood, obscuring its beautiful 

 grain, if it can be avoided. 



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